But in the back of my mind, looking at these photos made me wonder: how many of the fossils in these images are actually real?
Obviously, dinosaurs (and their fossils) are real things that really existed. But that is not to say that all the fossils in all of these pictures are real.
In fact, quite a few of them are likely casts made from real fossils – that is, molds taken from the outside of real fossils, which are made with anything from plastic to fiberglass.
In the meantime, while the casts are out on display, those real fossils could actually be in a laboratory undergoing rigorous study, or stored in a really cool climate-controlled basement somewhere due to their age/delicacy.